In the Bundesliga they are battling together for points with Bayer 04 but they will be on opposite sides in the Africa Cup: Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou. The Leverkusen defensive duo head home before New Year to prepare for the continental tournament with their respective national teams.
Tapsoba with Burkina Faso in Group A face Ethiopia, Cape Verde plus Cameroon. The last country is the host and also the first opponent for Tapsoba and Co. The game on Sunday, 9 January (kick-off: 18.00 CET), is also the opening match of the tournament.
Kossounou with the Ivory Coast in Group E will play Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone. The Ivorians start against Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, 12 January (kick-off: 21.00 CET). The Ivory Coast squad is provisional and will be finally confirmed on Christmas Eve. Kossounou is very likely to be included as the Werkself player has been in the Ivory Coast team for five of the last six qualifiers.
The time away from the club starts on 27 December. A total of 24 teams will compete from 9 January for a place in the final that will be played on 6 February (kick-off: 21.00 CET) in the Cameroon capital Yaoundé.
UEFA held the draw for the play-offs in the Europa League in Nyon today. Bayer 04 were not in the draw as the group winners progressed straight to the Round of 16. The Werkself finished top of Group G with 13 points from six games.
16 teams take part in the second round including the eight third-placed teams from the group stage of the Champions League plus the eight group runners-up in the Europa League. The first legs will be played on 17 February with the second legs on 24 February 2022.
The Werkself can play 14 of 16 clubs in the Round of 16 as teams from the same country cannot play each other at that stage of the competition. Real Betis, group opponents of the Gerardo Seoane team, play Russian league leaders Zenit St. Petersburg.
Europa League play-off matches::
Sevilla vs Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta vs Olympiakos
RB Leipzig vs Real Sociedad
Barcelona vs Napoli
Real Betis vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Borussia Dortmund vs Rangers
FC Porto vs Lazio
A change of coaches at the last Europa League opponents for the Werkself: Ferencvaros, who won 1-0 against Bayer 04 last Thursday, parted company with head coach Peter Stöger on Monday. Ferencvaros suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at Debreceni VSC yesterday and lost top spot in the OTP Bank Liga.
The 55-year-old Austrian only took charge of the Hungarian champions in the summer. In Germany, Stöger coached FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer 04 congratulate Michal Kadlec on his 37th birthday today (Monday). The former Werkself player joined on loan from Sparta Prague in 2008 and signed permanently in the following season. The defender made 158 appearances for the Werkself and scored 14 goals in those games. The left-footer reached the DFB Cup final with Black and Reds in 2009 and was a runner-up in the league two years later.
The Czech Republic full-back moved on to Turkish top-flight club Fenerbahce in 2013/14. Kadlec has been at Czech first division club FC Slovacko since 2018. Many happy returns.
MG Motor is continuing their close partnership with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The official automotive partner for the Werkself will additionally remain a Leverkusen Premium Partner in the coming 2025/26 campaign as was the case last season. The dual commitment of MG Motor means the car manufacturer continues to provide reliable and important support to the Champions League club.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 4-0 win at Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the DFB-Pokal 2025/26...
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Bayer 04 are through to the second round of the DFB Pokal after a 4-0 win at Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday night. The game was paused after only 18 minutes due to a storm over the ground. After a lengthy delay, play resumed and Patrik Schick opened the scoring. Arthur, Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo made things more comfortable in the second half, as the fourth-tier side had two players sent off.
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There were no goals across 115 minutes of football between Bayer 04 Women and PSV Eindhoven in Friday’s friendly. Roberto Pätzold’s team played two 45-minute periods before an extra 25 minutes two days prior to heading to Rieden for their training camp. Their Dutch opponents were preparing for their UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier in 12 days.
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